


Across the Desert

by Yoran



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alphonse & Shalvun, Canon Compliant, Gay Male Character, Ishvalan Character, M/M, Male Slash, POV Male Character, Shalphonse, Zero Canon Divergence, two gay babies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-23
Updated: 2014-06-12
Packaged: 2018-01-26 04:39:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1674989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoran/pseuds/Yoran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shalvun was just a young boy when his home country, Ishval, went to war and lost everything. Escaping to Xing when the extermination started, he decides to learn alkahestry, and then, when strong enough, go to Amestris to find out what really caused to war. Then he meets the Elric Brothers. AlxOC</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a AlxOC story. After this chapter, I plan on going back to the beginning of the FMAB and start there.
> 
> I'm not going to do: entire life story, final battle, done.
> 
> I'm going to do the entire story.
> 
> Oh, the \/\/\/ means the age of Shalvun

My beautiful [beta](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4182540/)!

\/\/\/

June 19, 1901

When I turned three, the Ishvalan Civil War began.

It was all I knew. All I remembered.

First it was the groups of protesters that mobbed the soldiers. Demanding to know  _why, why_  did an Amestrian soldier kill a child, one of the Ishvalan's own?

Then the riots started, and then the horrible smell of rot and gunpowder came.

I grew up with that as a constant in my life.

I grew up with needing to wear face masks when I was too close to the far edge of town, where the dead that had yet to be buried or burned, where the smell and trembling heat of the rotting bodies hit you like a brick wall, and you would force yourself to ' _keep walking, and no that was NOT father I saw in there, justkeepwalking…'_

I grew up fearfully hiding behind the debris of our fallen home; a home that was too close to the war, too close to the explosions, and the enemy soldier's miss-fire.

 _'Grenades'_  my mother had said when I asked what they were.

_'Grenades.'_

_'Bullets.'_

_'Mines.'_

But why?

_'Because we are different.'_

I don't understand.

Why would they try to hurt us? Did we do something wrong?

Are  _we_  something wrong?

 _'No, my dear Shalvun, there is nothing wrong with us. They fucking fear us because we have red eyes, what bullshit, and hate that we don't believe in their Devil's magic._ That's  _what makes us different from them.'_

Devil's magic?

_'The monsters call it 'alchemy'. It makes them be able to take God's creation and fuck it up into something terrible and perverted.'_

Why?

_'I do not know, my dear. Everything is how it should be, in the way God made and left it.'_

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

September 29, 1907.

I was nine when my dear mother died.

It was a disease that had dragged on for thirteen months.

In a war that has lasted six years now.

The two kind Amestrian doctors had said it was 'Tuberculosis.'

The word that echoed and thumped throughout my mind in the seven months I knew about it.

A deadly infection of the lungs.

Mother always was weak to sickness, and the pile of our warrior's bodies just five houses away from our home, well, I'm sure it didn't help much.

I didn't tell mom. I let her believe it was a  _'little chest cold, absolutely nothing to worry about, my dear.'_

All she kept saying even as she clutched her chest in pain and choked and coughed out her own blood.

And I could do nothing but stand-by and try to take care of her when she was too weak to move.

Then she died.

I truly understood death that day.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

After that I helped the doctors, the Rockbells, they told me, Urey and Sara Rockbell.

It wasn't much of a move. Mom was in here for those months before…she died.

I wasn't able to do much. All I could do was hurry from each doctor, to the equipment table and help them with small responsibilities. Responsibilities that grew larger the longer I was with them.

_'I need you to get those tweezers there, yes those ones, and get all of the rocks and metal out, can you do that?'_

_'Shalvun! I need you to get the sewing needle, rubbing alcohol, and towels! Hurry or we'll lose him!'_

_'I need you to hold down his arm, he has a heavy infection in his left arm and we have to amputate it. Honey, will you grab his legs? Shalvun, push on that spot right there. It'll weaken his arm enough for you to hold it down. Yes, good job, Shalvun!'_

They were really good people. I admired their kindness and selflessness despite it was what helped kill them in the end.

_'Wow, you're a great help! We don't know what we'd do without you!'_

_'So young and you're already are so good at this! Maybe you should be a doctor when you get older, I'm sure you'll be fantastic at it! Oh, I can see it now! "Hello, Dr. Fubk, a very important patient is here to see you."'_

_'Oh, you remind me of my daughter, Winry! Why, you're only a year older than her.'_

Really good people.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

May 17, 1908

_'We didn't treat you just to let you die!'_

_'Young man, we are not going anywhere.'_

_'Don't move or you'll open up your wounds!'_

_'Sedatives!'_

_'There aren't anymore!'_

_'Doctors!'_

A fear fueled man, a knife, a scream and a crash.

Then it was all over.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

We were being hunted and killed off, 'Exterminated' the gruff old man, my harsh savior, walking beside me said.

It was only minutes after the murder of the Rockbells that I was being dragged away to safety.

I was still pressing my hands to their chests, trying to stop the bleeding. ' _There's so much blood, why is there so much?!'_ Desperately trying to keep them alive, ' _why aren't they breathing? They'll suffocate!'_ Then someone grabbed my shoulders and yanked me away.

I had yelled, kicked and scratched to get away, to get back to them, to save them, because not ' _again, not again. pleasenotagain. please. Ibegofyou.'_

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

I was with a large group of refuges and we were all crossing the eastern desert.

To Xerxes, -I clutched my blackened and unmovable arm- then Xing.

_'You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were using alkahestry!'_

Alkahestry? What's that?

_'It's a type of alchemy that's specialized in healing and the like! It originates in Xing, just past Xerxes.'_

_'Maybe you should be a doctor when you get older. I sure you'll be fantastic at it! Oh, I can see it now! "Hello, Dr. Fubk, a very important patient is here to see you."'_

That was where I was going to learn healing alchemy.

_'You know what's odd? That soldier that killed the Ishvalan child, I heard that the soldier openly protested against this war and constantly helped the Ishvalans. That's seems a bit suspicious, doesn't it honey?'_

_'…Yes it does. Hmm..._

_'I wonder if- Oh! Shalvun, when did you get in here? Did you have a nightmare again? Oh, come here, sweetheart.'_

Then I'll go back to Amestris when I'm strong and ready and find out just why this war started, in the first place.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

As Shalvun contemplated his life, he guesses that, yeah, it was hard but it had made him stronger or whatever.

So why, if he was so strong, and he better fucking be after the bullshit he's gone through, was he still on the fucking ground, barely conscious, while the person he  _loved_  was out there and risking his life for the sake for everyone in Amestris?

_'Shalvun! You need to worry about yourself before you can worry for others! If you don't help yourself, how can you possibly expect to help others?'_

Taking deep breath and pressing his shaking gloved hand to his chest, a green light glowed.

There, he helped himself, now he must help Alphonse and Edward.

 _'And, God forbid if anyone but me kills that murderous 'Father'.'_ He thought as he staggers up.

\/


	2. Chapter Two: Arrogance and Selfishness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A psycho priest, a staring contest and a golden shorty.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

 

The subject of people has always a held a certain interest within Shalvun, besides the healing, he found the topic of personalities, the soul of the human, to be particularly fascinating.

A parent could be so protective of their children and yet another would willingly sacrifice their own.

It was the drastically different choices people made while being in the same situation that interested Shalvun.

There was always a good or a bad. A flipside to everything and that was Shalvun's philosophy.

There were things he loved about humans.

Kindness for a complete stranger.

Enough love for a person to lay out their life for another.

Determination to survive even in the worst of times.

And there where things he absolutely despised about humans.

Some had the arrogance to think that they are God, that they are all important.

Selfish to get what they want with no regard or consideration for whoever suffers along the way.

He particularly hates those traits.

And the man before him was showing both of them.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

June 5, 1914

"God's children who live upon this land, pray in faith that ye shall be saved. To those who have lost their way, the Sun God Leto shall shine his divine light upon you..."

I shifted from my uncomfortable position on the floor.

_'I can't believe he had to be _fucking rude and_ chain me against this fucking wall. I mean, come on, he could have thrown down a cushion or something, at least, My ass feels terrible.'_

I looked at up to my right arm, chained above my head, and felt the rectangular groves in the transmuted metal with my thumb… a bit sharp.

_'How long have I been in here anyway?'_

I glance past my arm and look through the large pane window I'm under. The sky and the empty aching in my stomach answer for me.

_'When the sun goes down it'll be three days. Just how long is he planning to keep me here anyway? If he thinks a little starvation and a aching back is going to make me want to join his little army, then he has another thing coming. I survived the civil war, bitch. It'll be harder than this….'_

My stomach cramped.

_'I miss my beef jerky.'_

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"Uhhhh…" I groaned out, hoping to gain the disgruntled attention of my capturer.

After a solid minute of the continuous noise, it worked.

He turned around and glared at me, it was little more than two angry diagonal lines on his face, "… Live in a world where there is no death. Your prayers will…"

"Wahhhhhh…" I croaked out and locked eyes with him. ' _God, I am so boorred. If you're going to kill me, just do it already. You already have me defenseless. I literally can't do anything except talk, god damn it. Don't be a fucking chicken shit. All bark and no bite, douche.'_

Cornello smirked, an idea clearly popping into that big, empty head of his ' _Maybe he'll finally do something more than talking.'_  and waved his hand and with a spectacularly small show of red sparks, formed an iron mouth piece to shut me up.

My eyes widen and I huff indignantly.

_'You bastard, first you jank me, make me to take off my own arm, lock me in a room WITH you for three days, you won't even let me go to the bathroom or get a drink without a guard that won't get off my ass for five seconds and NOW you shove this piece of shit in my mouth."_

I glare at the back of his head. The bastard was continuing his town wide speech. Not even paying any attention to me now.

_'Nobody shoves shit in my mouth without my consent, you dick! Just who do you think you are?'_

I pause, then slump against the wall, and roll my eyes. The insane motherfucker has told me plenty times during our 'precious' time together, just who he was, and planned to be.

_'Future ruler of Amestris, then the world, blah blah, soon to be general of a fearless and faithful, mindless army, I am Father Cornello and now you know all of our secrets, be killed or join me.'_

Maybe not exact word for word, but damn near close enough, honestly.

_'Then I was hooked to this stupid wall to be watched twenty-four seven by the Father-faker or that goon Cray, Cornello's right hand man in this whole shebang. They're waiting for my 'spirit to break' or some shit like that. Don't the fucks know that saying 'The Ishvalan will is harder than steel'? I think that's how it goes, at least… I mean, we would need it for what most of us have gone through.'_

I begin to lightly bang the back of my head and, resisting the urge the angrily wave my nubbed left bicep at him, started to make pictures from the bumps in the wall and ceiling.

A little while later, he stopped with the town-wide broadcasting and leaned back in his chair. He carefully swirled his index finger around the ring on the hand facing me.

The ring looked odd and plain resting on Cornello's middle finger; the golden band was too wide and stupid looking for such a small bloody stone.

It was that fucking ring that got me in trouble in the first place.

And the feeling it gave me…

I suppressed a shudder and look away.

I knew if I opened my mind's eye and felt for the energy excluding from the stupid thing, I would see a large, red ball. When I first saw it, the ball had looked so tightly packed of energy, that I felt if I even glanced at it too sharply it would burst and bring hell upon the land.

But mind's eye or not, I still feel the thousands of tiny hands grasping, tugging, and clinging on my body and I hear as if each and every of those tiny hands was screaming in my ear yet echoing a echoing silence.

Besides the silent screaming, I felt the fear, pain, and greed, like I was losing my arm, everyone I loved and getting a front row seat to see my people being slaughtered all over again, but I would do it with my own hands if I got that ring as a reward.

_'Heh, Teacher always did say I was too sensitive.'_

A polite knock sounded from across the room and after an affirmation from the fuck-truck priest, a tall, buff man with the flattest face ever walked in and bowed.

_'Well, I guess it would be flat, what with how much Cornello walks all over him. But, if it's like that, I wonder if he smells like the bullshit the fuck priest spews out of his asshole on a regular basis.'_

I snickered from the back of my throat.

_'God fucking damn, I am fun-ny.'_

My muffled amusement was either not heard or ignored.

Probably the second one, the asses.

Cray straightens, "Father, it is time for your daily miracle."

Cornello pushed back is leather chair and stood, "Yes, thank you, Cray. Would you mind staying here and watching the Ishvalan for me?"

_'I have a god damn name, you fucking twit.'_

"Yes, of course, Father." He said as he stood to the side as Cornello swept, rather dramatically, past him.

_'I wonder what trick he'll pull today. Perhaps the whole 'clap my hands and pull a mini statue of Leto from who-the-fuck-knows nowhere'? It is his apparent favorite with how much he does it.'_

I was pulled from my contemplating thoughts when Cray walked by, almost knocking my automail forearm off the edge of the table, just teasingly out of my reach, to stop before the large window.

He stood to my right and set down two large buckets full of shiny pink things. Huh, I hadn't bothered myself to notice if the spineless man had be carrying anything before.

My view of him was obscured by the fact that my nose was digging into my stanky ass armpit.

_'God, you can tell just by the way I stink that I've been chained to a wall by a psycho-ass fake priest, who, of course, has plans to rule the god damn world someday, for three days in a fucking desert or oasis or whatever, all of the while sitting in the most uncomfortable spot in the entire world and with what feels like buckets of sand in my shoes.'_

Well, maybe not all of that, but you could at least tell I haven't had a good bath in a while.

_'At least I left my jacket at the inn…'_

I shift and sigh.

_'Honestly, my poor ass. I hope it still looks fucking fantastic after this whole fucking thing blows over.'_

I look down to my lap, fully covered with chains holding me down to the floor.

_'If it blows over, it would fucking suck if I died here… I really wish I hadn't listened to those gossipy old ladies at the train station… '_

'...'

_'I also I wish I hadn't decided to cross my legs, my ankles feel like shit. Fucking hard ass floor…'_

A stiff creaking sound made me look over to the piece of shit human opening the huge-ass window.

_'I really wish I was put on the other side of him, maybe then I could have broken his knee cap with my nubby arm.'_

Cray leaned down, completely on unawares of my want to do physical harm to his legs, I pursed in thought, 'Maybe he can read my mind and he has the best fucking poker face ever,' and he grabbed the bucket of that shiny shit and began tossing it out the window.

A piece of whatever he was throwing fell down to rest beside my thigh.

_'Holy shit, that's a really fucking pretty flower.'_

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ _  
_

After the limp dick finished with his flower throwing, he set the empty tin buckets in the corner across from me and stood at attention in the middle of the room, as if the psycho priest would come barging in here if dumb-fuck McGee stepped even a toe out of line.

 _'Pushover.'_  I thought.

His eyes immediately shot towards mine.

My eyes widen, ' _Fuck, maybe that pot-shot thought about mind-reading is true after all…'_  My eyes narrow eagerly as an interesting idea pushes itself into my mind.  _'Ooh, or, maybe this fucker has a sixth-sense that lets him know when people are talkin' shit about him- or in my case, thinking.'_

 _'Or,'_ I frown in disappointment as another much more likely thought comes in.  _'the shitty man just remembered his task of watching me… what a dick.'_

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Thirty-Three Minutes Later…

During our staring contest, which to me was more of a 'who looks away first is the fucking loser king of all losers' and less of a 'stare until your eyeballs feel like dried up pieces of camel shit, then blink', I thought up new jokes to apply to the giant piece of shit in front of me.

_'Was your mom a block of wood and your dad a fucking bear to have gotten a face and body like that?'_

_'What the fuck, Shalvun? That was the shittiest joke of all time. You know you can do fucking better than that.'_

_'Hmm…'_

_'Oh, how about this one? Where's the baby your face and the floor made? Because, ya know, it's obvious you two got very well acquainted… God damn, I am the best there ever was or ever will be.'_

_'Ugh... well, shit, I can't think of anymore-'_

The loud sound of the door slamming open made me tear my unwilling eyes to the overly confident face of the faker priest as he strides in.

I hang my head in defeat when I realize what I had just done.

 _'Fuuuck… now I'm the loser king of all loserrrs.'_  I groan out.

I open my eyes and look through the long stringy mess of my sweaty bangs to see the legs of Cornello finish his fashion walk to beside his cushioned leather chair, where he stopped and turned to his henchman.

"You may go now, Brother Cray. Thank you for your help." With a bow and a muttered "Father." the door was closed once again.

Cornello sat and seemed to wait for a few minutes before turning toward me.

"So, Sally, have you considered my proposal?"

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Ah, yes, 'Sally' my impromptu nickname.

A name most people know me by.

Let me explain.

In Ishval, you name was considered to be sacred, for the family or lover use only, because it was thought that a Ishvalan name came from Ishvalla, our 'God', per-say, but in reality it was whatever name popped up into your mother's head in the split second after you were born.

Mine happened to be Shalvun, it means 'he who commands peace' in Ishvalan. Ironic, no?

Anyway, since I've pretty much forsaken my parent's heritage and went my own way in life, I decided I would at least keep that tradition so my dearly departed parents wouldn't completely roll over in their graves and curse me from beyond the unknown.

Sally sounded a bit like Shalvun, right? Shal-vun.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

At his question, I tilted my head back and gave him my most irritated look, hoping the man would get the fucking hint.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I had forgotten I put a muzzle on you. At least now you won't try to interrupt my broadcasting again, right? Remember the first time? You wouldn't want that to happen once more, would you?"

_He had quickly transmuted thick stone walls around me to muffle my yelling from the microphone._

Yeah, no good fun times happened.

I freaked and passed out.

Let's just say I don't do well with heat and being in the dark.

During his little warning, he had waved his hand and transmuted the mouth piece back into the wall behind my head.

"Well?" He prompted.

I flipped my head to the side to move my sweaty bangs from my face and said with my most sassy-ass smile "How about you go and eat your own shit." I nod encouragingly to him.

He seemed to decide to ignore my little remark and continue, "Even if I offer to give Ishval to you when I control Amestris?"

For a moment, I actually consider the offer and then reply.

"Well, while getting Ishval back would be great and all, who's to say you won't just kill me once you've begun to rule the world or whatever, and then where would I be? I would be dead and be considered a traitor to my own people. Even if you didn't kill me, if my people knew I was working with an alchemist with plans to cause a new war and spilling even more blood, I would be exiled so fucking fast I'd probably break my beautiful neck from the whiplash and I don't particularly want that, so no, I will not join your posse. So, you can go and fuck yourself with your world domination issues, alright?"

After a good moment of what I think was contemplation, he stood and walked over to the window and I, once again, wished upon the north fucking star that I was on the other side so I could break some fucking knee caps.

"What if I was to take group of people from Liore and begin to kill them off until you agree to work for me?" he smiled, clearly mocking me.

I roll my eyes up at him and sneer, "Do you really think the people won't notice others missing? What are you going to say when they'll question you? That they just, what, disappeared? Walked off? Right after seeing you? Honestly, they're gullible but not that gullible. And besides, you don't have the guts to kill a person, oh no; you're the type of person to have another do the dirty for you. How pathetic, they won't even be properly killed by their murderer." I scoff at him.  _'Surely he won't risk his position just to get me on his team.'_

As he opened his mouth to retort, a firm knock sounded from the door. After a moment of recollection, he invited whoever was at the door to enter.

Cray walked to the middle of the room before stopping to deliver his message.

"Father Cornello, there are visitors here who wish to see you. A child and a man in a suit of armor, they would only give their names as the Elric brothers." He explained.

Cornello didn't give it a seconds thought before dismissing them, "I can't be bothered now, just send them away." He paused in realization and held his chin as he turned his head toward his goon. "Wait, the Elrics? Are you sure that's what they said? You're positive?"

"Yes, that's what they call themselves, no mistake." Cray confirmed.

The fake priest slapped his hand to his forehead in distress. "Damn, then this is a problem. Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, has come to call on us."

"That's him? The man in the armor?" Clay asked in a slight panic.

I leaned my head down and smirked, feeling my long-awaited victory sink deep.

"Hmph… Dressing the part it would seem."

"But why would a State Alchemist be here in Liore? Surely, they can't have found out about our plans." Cray said in the most suspicious of ways, glancing behind him to the closed door.

_'You would be the worst villain of all time, dick head.'_

Cornello glanced down to me and seeing my oh-so-hidden smirk, connected the dots. He kicked my leg angrily.

 _'Was that the wind?'_  My smirk grew wider.

"Looks like you made your call before we got to you, damn, no wonder you were so calm about this. Well, never mind," he turned around to face Cray. "We need to… take care of some military dogs."

They walked out to plan the alchemist's demise and I wasn't all that worried, I wouldn't think a State Alchemist would die easily. And he was in a suit of armor even! So that should help, right?

And besides, I was finally alone.

I started to quickly rotate my right wrist, feeling the rectangular transmutation groves begin to harshly rub and scratch the skin. I need to get my wrist bleeding before it swells or the idiotic priest remembers me and my without-a-guard-ness.

_'I survived Ishval, bitch! Ha ha!"_

Just when I felt my wrist go slightly slippery, I hear an echo of a gun-shot. I pause,  _'State Alchemists' don't die easily.'_  I try to convince myself.

_'Is he trying to kill them because I said he couldn't? I would think he'd try to get them on his side and if they don't agree, tied 'em up, like with me. I mean, I know I would want a State Alchemist on my side if I were doing a country-wide take-down.'_

_'I can only pray that the shot wasn't fatal.'_

Just when my arm was bloody enough to squeeze out, the door was slammed open. But, instead of someone from the church, barging in to guard me and undoubtedly tattle-tale on me, it was a black and gold shorty with an automail arm.

 _'Holy fucking shit, I'm pretty sure I just died a little on the inside. Oh, fuuuck.'_  I struggled to reclaim my breath.

At the sight of me, he immediately set himself into a fighting position but after a moment of closer observation, he dropped the stance.

_'What the hell happened to his shirt?'_

"Uhh… Hello?" he said hesitantly.

_'How eloquent.'_

I opened my bloody palm to him, a peaceful gesture, and jerked my head to him in greeting.

"Yo."  _'Oh my God, you are so lame. Who in the hell says 'Yo', you fucking idiot.'_

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

"I was kidnapped and chained to this wall."

"Are you with that dumb-ass priest?"

"No, does it look like I was invited for a tea party?"

"….No."

"Now, can you get me out of these chains?" I suggest after a moment from our quick-spit questioning.

He considers it for a moment before walking over and leaning down to the ground, clapping his hands and pressing them near my knees then moving on to the wall below my shoulder.

Once he finished transmuting the chains back, he moved on to do whatever he came in here to do in the first place. Using the support of the wall behind me, I staggered up onto my feet, my ankles and legs slightly weak from being stiff for so long.

"Thanks, I own you one." After hearing a muttered 'yeah, sure', I drop myself into Cornello's chair and I lean down to the drawer on the bottom right where my things would be.

After somehow managing to grab all of my leather and cloth pouches and placing them onto the desk, I search for a particular leather one. Once I find it, I unbuckle it with my fingers and pulled out a slice of beef jerky.

_'I am so fucking hungry.'_

I nearly moan, but I didn't because that would be super fucking awkward, when I place it into my mouth and start to slowly chew. I pick up my shoes and dump them free of sand, creating a nice sized pile, probably from when I was dragged through it. After I put my shoes back on, I test my ankles before standing and begin to hook the various bags to my hip or strapping them to my thighs.

I look up to see the golden shorty moving around and dragging something and I walk over to him.

And I lean real close.

"Whatcha doin'?" I exhaled into his ear.

He jumped and spun around, rubbing his ear and pointing at me, "You! What the hell did you do that for?"

_'A typical reaction, intimacy is not his pressure point.'_

I shrug, "Felt like it." I move my hand to my right leg and feel for the beef jerky pouch.

Once I find the treasured pouch, I offer him a piece. He takes it but hesitates biting into it.

"It's not going to bite back, you know. Try it, it tastes good." Taking another bite of my own, I skip (figuratively ,of course, but truthfully it was more of a hobble) back to my original spot and stick my jerky into my mouth to suck on the flavor.

"I thought Ishvalans hated Amestrians." He states quietly before chomping down.

"And I thought the Xerxes people went completely extinct four hundred years ago, so, I guess we're both wrong." I say as I hop onto the desk and pick up my forearm from beside me.

"What?" he asks as he sets the thing he was dragging, the microphone to the radio broadcasting system, onto the floor a few feet away from the main door.

"Never mind." I say quickly. "So, are you planning to expose the faker-priest to the town or what?" I open and press my automail close to my face to see if it was messed with.

_'It would be just like that psycho-priest to stick a rock in here or something, just for the sole reasoning of messing with me if I ever got out of here.'_

"Yeah, I plan to use the broadcasting system against him. Make him reveal his entire plan to the people of Liore."

"Hmph, they won't like that… So, are you the kid traveling with the Fullmetal Alchemist?" I put my automail back in its spot beside me and dig around for the oil plunger I know I have in here somewhere… ah ha!

The kid explodes at my comment and throws his arms around him, "Why does everybody here think that Al's the Fullmetal Alchemist? It's me, god damn it!"

I give him a brief glance before finishing off my jerky and placed the oil plunger between my teeth, I set my metal arm into my lap, "Well, I wouldn't know why they think that, because I've been in here and not out there, so really, I'm just working of the assumptions of the priest and his goon."

 _'Wait,'_  I grin eagerly and take the plunger away from my mouth so I could talk clearly, "What did he do when he found out he was wrong?"

"He got upset and called me…" He bitterly mumbled the last part.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that, can you say it again?" I smirk at him.

"He called me short."  _'Oh, there it is. His pressure point.'_

I began snickering and a cloud of darkness overcame his form.

"Well, you are small enough that you'd be blown away by the slightest gust of wind."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE'D BE BLOWN AWAY BY A LITTLE WIND?" he said in anger and waved his arms around wildly.

"What's this 'Al' doing while you do this part of the plan?" I interrupt him and started to carefully oil my automail's joints.

He stopped his angry tirade, "He's going to transmute the bell from the top of this building with a radio, so that even the people without radios will still hear Cornello's confession."

"Good plan. You really thought this through, huh?" I say with a little bit of admiration in my tone. I set the empty plunger into the pouch strapped to my left thigh and rotated the automail's joints, spreading the oil and listening for any creaks.

When I found none, I put the forearm in between my knees to hold it steady as I lined it up with the port in my left bicep.

"Woah, wait, are you planning on reconnecting your arm by yourself?" I look over to see him awkwardly shifting his hands.

"You want to help? Come here." He shuffled over, apparently done with whatever he was supposed to do, I pointed to the cords of color-coded nerves and he leaned closer to get a better look.

"Just do red-to-red, green-to-green, blue-to-blue, you get me?" I said, pointing to each cord in question. After a quiet confirmation, we began to do our work.

I look up slightly when I hear Ed, "What metal is this? It's nothing I've ever seen before."

"It's a metal from Xing, it's called 'titanium', it's a popular metal because of abundance and it's low density and high strength ratio, the metal has the same as strength as steel but it's just about half as light. Non-magnetic and a poor conductor of heat and electricity, it's a damn good material."

"Wait, you're from Xing?"

"Yep, it's where most of the Ishvalans went when the extermination started."

He winched, uncomfortable with the topic of Ishval. "So, you got you automail there? But how are you supposed to go to your mechanic if something goes wrong?"

"I made my own automail, so I should be able to take care of it, no?" I say as I finish screwing the bundles of color-coded nerves to each other.

I hate this part.

I shoo Ed away before he can ask more questions about my automail. I have been known to lash out from the pain.

I grasped the lever on the inner side of my arm, just above the elbow joint, and turned it, a small hook grabbing onto a thick wire and spinning it around a pole therefore tightening the automail into the port. And with the pain steadily growing, I pushed it down to lay flat against my inner bicep, taking a needed deep breath, rotated it a finishing one-hundred-and-eighty degrees and picked it up to quickly slam it back into its slotted hole.  **(like nail clippers)**

With my body tensing up, I stifled my scream by pressing my mouth into my right shoulder and shudder, my entire body going stiff from the pain.

_'Still hurts just as much as the first time, even though so many years have passed. You would think the pain would lessen over time, but no, it keeps on feeling like my arm is being ripped off.'_

I take in a shuddering breath as my body and I work through the pain.

_'Hurry and suck it up! Your people felt so much more pain and you're not a child anymore! Come on, come on…'_

Once the pain and my body's trembling calm, I give the gawking boy a smirk as I straighten from my hunched over position and flick the clasp on the outside of my automail port, just there to make sure my arm doesn't fall off and rotate my left arm, working out the kinks and stretching the muscle.

"Gotta love that rush!" I lie and laugh with a cocky tone.

I hop from my seat and stretch my back.

"Uh, yeah I guess so…" he said with disbelief coloring his voice. I guess it didn't help that I was still panting.

_'Oh, yeah, he has an automail arm too. Most people would believe me and just call me crazy for 'liking the pain'; the only ones who didn't take to my lies were the people who also got automail…'_

I turn away and lift my sweaty, white shirt to hold with my chin and clapped my hands and, pressing my finger tips to the seven pointed star transmutation circle tattooed on my chest, began to work on my boo-boos.

I closed my eyes to the green sparks surrounding me and focus myself to my own energy, my soul, and begin to gently guide it through my chakras to heal my cut up wrist, agitated arm port, bruised ass and ankles.

After carefully setting my soul back to where it belongs and ignoring the slightly painful twitch from it, equivalent exchange and all, pulled my hands away and drop my shirt.

I turned around to face the boy and realized I didn't even know my pint-sized savior's name.

"What do you want me to call you, kid? The name's Sally." I hold my non-automail hand out for him. "Are you hurt anywhere? I heard a gun go off earlier."

He looked at the black tattoo that was spread across my palm and the tiny one on the pad on my index finger; a circle specialized in metal construction and one with understanding respectively.

He grasped my hand with his warm metal one and gave it a firm shake.

"Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist. But everyone calls me Ed. And besides, a few bump and bruises, I'm fine, the shot didn't hurt anyone."

'That's a relief.'

"It's nice to meet you, Ed. Shame it had to been under such strange circumstances."

"Same here."

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

After mutually agreeing to wait for our psycho priest to eventually come by, Ed made himself comfortable on top of the desk, while I leaned my weight against the smaller side of the desk, just to Ed's left. I didn't plan on sitting any time soon.

To pass time, I transmuted the tip of a finger from my left hand into a square tipped metal toothpick and began to scratch the sand out from under my fingernails.

_'My hands gotta look fucking fantastic. With my personality and looks, you never know when you'll be proposed to.'_

I looked up toward the open door as the sound of running feet came closer. When I saw the familiar black jacket shoot past, I turned my finger back to normal and moved to stand beside the boy, using my body to hide the remote as he quietly flipped the switch.

Cornello leaped back after recognizing us.

 _'That was pretty agile for such an old and cowardly man.'_  I think, slightly impressed the false priest's moves.

"There you are, you infernal brat!" he yelled angrily.

Ed smirked, "Look, can we just cut the crap and talk here? All I want are some straight answers about the stone," he sat up a bit and continued, "Tell me what I need to know and me and Sally here will be on our way. Or I could, you know, get the military involved; after all, you did kidnap Sally and keep him here and, last time I checked, that's a criminal offense."

Cornello growled at us in frustration before looking down the hallways and closing the door trying to keep this private.

He straightened his back, trying to retain at least some of his dignity "Ask your questions."

"You could do anything with the Philosopher Stone, right? So, why waste all of that power performing some phony 'miracles'?"

I had asked the same question to him days ago and this one yielded the same, albeit a bit more dramatic, results.

Cornello leaned forward and smiled, as if telling a close friend an exciting secret.

_'Ew, no.'_

"Because, with each miracle I can attract new believers to the order," his eyes finally opened, tiny, beady and purple, as he fiercely began his speech, "Believers who would lay down their lives for my sake." He clenched his hands in front of him, picturing his fantasy.

_'Oh, wow, he's really getting into it, isn't he? He even opened his eyes!'_

Figuring it would take a while for him to fully reveal his evil plan, that and I've already heard it before, I made a nail file and started evening out the tips of my nails and Ed merely rested his chin on his metal hand and waited.

"I am slowly building an army, a legion of holy warriors that are unafraid to die. In a few more years, I'll be ready to unleash the mindless horde upon the world and I'll use the Philosopher Stone to tear this country apart! Who knows, I might even carve out a slice for you!"

_'Bribery, again, really?'_

I snicker at him as he and Ed laughed. Though Ed's had much more enthusiasm and went the whole extra mile, grabbing his stomach and such.

"Eh? Wait, what are you laughing about?" Cornello took a step forward.

"I knew it! You really are a novice aren't you?" I stepped to the side and revealed Ed's hand holding a large remote with the red switch flipped to 'ON'.

The realization was slow to sink in but after he looked to the floor and saw the microphone lying at his feet, his head slowly cranked up, reminding me of a stiff puppet.

It was comical how his face showed the shock; it was like everything got bigger. His eyes, mouth and even eyebrows looked hilarious.

"YOU DON'T MEAN THAT-!" He cut himself off, trembling in anger. "WHY YOU-! How long?! How long has that been on?"

"From the start, I would say." I answer, flicking my nail at him. "And your 'mindless' believers heard  _every_  word." I smirk.

"How could you?!" He raised his cane. "You'll pay dearly for this!" Cornello began to transmute his cane into a gun of some sort but before it could finish Ed was already dashing forward to cut it in half.

I clapped my hands and dragged my right hand onto the metal from my automail and created my preferred long range weapon of choice, a spear gun.

"Just face it, you're out classed here." I hear Ed whisper as he sliced though the black metal.

Ed's words seemed to stir up Cornello even more. "I am without rival!" He presses his hand to the top of the gun and red lightning erupted.

Ed back flipped out of the way while I pushed myself against the wall, pressing my hand to it and making stone slither up my arm, three stone rested into the triple barrel chamber, turning themselves into spears.

The red lightning intensified to a small explosion on the gun.

I closed my eyes from the bright light. It quickly cleared and I looked back to see Cornello's mutated arm.

_'What the fuck?'_

Ed gave a small gasp, "It's a rebound."

"No! I won't be disgraced like this!" He clutched his arm as red sparks shot up from it.

"Now, boys, behold the chosen emissary of the Sun God Leto!"

_'Are you fucking shitting me right now? I mean, come on, he's huge.'_

I looked down to Ed, couched down and frozen stiff below a ten foot tall, and growing, Cornello.

Kicking myself off the wall, I snatched the smaller boy's human arm as I dash past, going around the giant to go through the open door behind him, barely dodging the metal pieces protruding from him, I go right, the way Cornello came from, and run.

"Ed! Come on, snap out of it!" I flinch when I heard the room we came from explode but didn't dare look back.

"Ed, you shorty! If I fucking die here I will kick your ass! You need to wake up or I'm pretty sure Mr. Rule the world back there will eat us!" I yell, barely dodging the chunks of wall being propelled at us.

_'That was way too close.'_

Luckily, the short comment seemed to snap him out of whatever funk he was in and he ran a bit faster.

We didn't dare let go of each other's hands, because whenever one of us stumbled, the other would keep tugging along, making sure the other didn't fall and get squished.

But despite our great teamwork and our ability to create doors for ourselves and walls to deter our chaser, there was the fact that our enemy was faster and stronger. Soon enough, we had him practically stepping on the back of our shoes.

I moved my hand to hold onto Ed's wrist as Ed prepared to open a doorway from the brick wall in front of us, but before Ed could drag his hands along the wall beside him, I pull us to my side of the hallway, feeling the whoosh of air from Cornello's fist sweeping past Ed's head, ruffling our hair.

Cornello's inertia from the punch pulled him ahead and he crashed through the wall and, unable to stop our own movement, we flew thought the huge hole with him.

There was a brief moment in the air where adrenaline made everything pause before gravity was applied. Ed and I used that moment to flip off Cornello's chest.

While Ed stopped where he landed, I kept flipping back; I was, after all, a long range shooter. After I landed a several feet behind, I quickly went to the pocket with industrial diamonds in it, ignoring the shaking from the smashing sounding ahead. I'm sure if Ed needed help, he would say.

Pulling out three, I clapped my hands and pressed my right hand to the spears locked in my gun and the small diamonds spread like glue to cover the tips of the stone spears.

At the feeling of a second wind and small grunting sounds, I look up to see Ed being pushed by Cornello's fist. With my new friend barely holding his own, I'll have to be fast.

"Sally!"

"Got it!"

I carefully aim my forearm at the large mutated shoulder, I pull the trigger and with a sharp 'visst' and a thump, my three spears pierce though the gunmetal. Cornello didn't even notice. Just kept preaching on about 'God's mighty fist of judgment' or something dumb like that.

Clapping my hand on the inside of my fleshy elbow, I activate the remote transmutation circle there and cause the spears, which have the same circle engraved into them, to explode.

The blast caused Cornello's body to jerk back and Ed, using this distraction, darted around to the other side, yelling, "The fist of God, huh? If that's what you want, then you can have it!" Clapping his hand and pressing them to the giant statue of Leto. Blue energy crackled up and a large fist formed and Cornello, just getting out of his daze and turning to see where Ed was going, was smashed.

_'Holy shit, get fucking wrecked!'_

I walked over with diamond tipped spears at the ready while Ed strut, like a man on a mission, to the whimpering, deformed thing lying on the ground.

"Yo, Ed," he look up to me and to my held out hand. "Good job!"

Grinning he slapped the fleshy hand  _'Holy fuck, that hurt.'_ , "Yeah, you too!" before focusing his attention to the cowering man below him.

Ed leaned down and smashed his head against Cornello's. My eyes widen and I feel myself jump. 'Holy shit!'

"Shut up! Just give me the Philosopher Stone!" Ed yelled.

At that moment the stone dulled, fell out of the ring and shattered upon contact with the ground.

_'And, of course, just to add insult to injury, the fucking wind blows the pieces away.'_

Ed stares blankly at the spot the red stone broke. "What the hell? It's supposed to be perfect material, how did it just break like that?" Ed looks to the priest for answers.

Cornello waved his hand desperately, turning into the cowardly man he is, "Ah! I don't know! I don't know anything about it! Spare me, please! I was wrong! Please! I beg you!"

Ed sighed and stood, "It's a damn fake."

I stepped closer to Ed and kicked Cornello when he started to beg again.

"Honestly, have a little more dignity for yourself, man. I knew a five-year-old who stood up to death better than you. You're pathetic."

I turn towards Ed as he begins to numbly talk.

"You mean we went through all this, risked our lives for this one possible chance," his head dropped to the side and I felt his soul slip out of him, "And it's a fake?"

Hurriedly closing my eyes, I opened my mind's eye, and reaching up, I gently grabbed the thin tail of his departing soul with the tips of my fingers and bring it closer to carefully tuck it back into his body.

 _'Whew, his soul was almost out of reach, good thing that I'm, like, a foot taller. Or it would be gone forever. But… a soul should not be able to leave its body so easily.'_  I frown.

"So, uh, what about me?" Cornello asked nervously.

My eyes snap open and I step over and stomp on his stomach, "Why the fuck are you still here? Get out! And don't go kidnapping innocent teenage boys! If you do, I'll find you and I will fucking murder you! I swear it! Hey, you hear me, asshole?!" I yell and wave my fist at his frantically retreating back.

I huff and turn and look down to Ed. "Come on, let's get the fuck out of this dumb church and go find your partner or whatever."

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/


End file.
